Amusement rides are very popular; park operators and ride producers are therefore seeking to improve the entertainment experience of the riders of the amusement rides.
There are disclosed in the literature apparatus for the flight simulation on an airplane, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,377. The apparatus disclosed therein includes an airplane which is connected to an arm rotatable about a vertical axis.
The arm is also movable about a horizontal axis, perpendicular with respect to the vertical axis, so as the airplane can climb and descend during its rotation movement about the vertical axis. The thrust force allowing the rotation of the airplane about the vertical axis is generated by a propeller of the airplane driven by a motor.
French Published Patent Application No. 2 618 690 discloses an amusement apparatus for simulating the flight, and in particular the flight with hang-gliders.
A delta wing is connected to a main arm rotating about a vertical axis. The arm can be also moved up and down, so as to simulate raising and lowering (climbing and descending) movements. A horizontal bar held by the rider allows the rider to impart the rotational movement to the hang-glider about the vertical axis, while the rider is running, The horizontal bar is also operated by the rider to control the climbing and descending movements.
However, a problem of the devices of the documents briefly discussed above, and of other conventional devices, is the limited amount of riders they can transport.
The use of these devices also requires an athletic rider who can fly in a prone position (French Published Patent Application No. 2 618 690) or a long loading time (U.S. Pat. No. 4,898,377).
In fact, the above discussed devices are provided with only one rotating arm to which the airplane or the hang-glider is connected, so that only one rider can use the device.
This is a problem for the park operators and ride producers which are continuously aiming to improve the rider capacity for their rides, to reduce the waiting time for riders.
A further problem is to provide the riders with improved rides that better simulate real rides on sport and/or that could provide the riders with enhanced emotions.
In particular, in the device described in French Published Patent Application No. 2 618 690, the rider has to run very fast in order to reach the required minimum velocity to generate the minimum lift force necessary for climbing.
The necessity of running on the ground combined with the raising/lowering movement could be dangerous for the rider, especially when the rotation velocity is reduced and the glider descends. In fact, in this situation the legs of the rider impact on the ground.
Thus, the ride disclosed in French Published Patent Application No. 2 618 690 is not suitable for a common person.